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Jonestown's Maria Umberger to speak at Heart Ball in North Cornwall on March 29

Heart Ball keynote speaker Maria Umberger of Jonestown suffered a heart attack at a local bank that now has trained its workers in CPR

By Chris Sholly

chrissholly@ldnews.com @cgsholly on Twitter

Updated:
03/22/2014 11:50:22 AM EDT

Maria Umberger sits at the computer with the three women who were in the office when she had her heart attack. From left are commercial loan specialist Coni Russo, bank trainer/contact center manager Heather Via and teller Sara Deitzler. (Earl Brightbill — Lebanon Daily News)

Neil and Maria Umberger (Submitted)

JONESTOWN >> For bank teller Maria Umberger, Aug. 8 started out as a normal work day at the Jonestown Bank & Trust Co. on Bowman Street in Lebanon.

By the end of the day, doctors at the Good Samaritan Hospital a few blocks away were trying to save Umberger's life after she'd had a heart attack.

The 47-year-old Jonestown woman will tell her story at the 2014 Lebanon Heart Ball at 5:30 p.m. March 29 at the Lebanon Country Club in North Cornwall Township.

In honor of Umberger, Jonestown Bank & Trust Co. has agreed to match all Open Your Heart donations made prior to and during the Heart Ball, up to $5,000. In addition, Heart Ball guests and supporters who make an Open Your Heart gift of $250 or more will receive the American Heart Association's CPR Anytime kit, an at-home CPR training kit.

"Our main goal is to raise money so that we can get CPR kits and AED (automated external defibrillator) machines into more places and make people aware of heart attacks," Maria Umberger explained. "I've had it happen to me. I want people to be ready to help someone else. You don't have to be completely certified. You just need to know how to help someone until the (certified) help arrives."

As the result of her heart attack, Umberger has some memory loss, so she can't recall exactly what happened. What she does know, she learned from her husband, Neil, and watching a bank video of that day.

Early the morning of Aug. 8, Neil Umberger said, his wife complained of pain in her left arm. His wife also suffers from fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition. They both thought her pain that night was related to this condition.

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"Around 12:30 a.m., she said she felt a little chest discomfort, but she took two Tylenol and the chest pain eased up, so she went back to sleep," Neil said.

Maria said she went to work the morning of Aug. 8 as usual. But while serving a customer, she suddenly collapsed, unconscious, behind the counter. Unsure of what had happened, co-workers called 9-1-1, then waited for help to arrive.

Neil said his wife's heart had stopped, and she wasn't breathing for four and a half minutes. When the EMTs arrived, they had to "shock her three times," he said. "They were able to get her (heart) rhythm back, but she did not regain consciousness."

The seasoned EMTs from First Aid and Safety Patrol who responded weren't sure they could save her because she had not been breathing for more than four minutes, Maria said.

"Anything beyond four minutes is not good," she said.

A bank representative left a message for Neil at work. When he called the bank, Neil learned she'd had a heart attack. He rushed from his warehouse job to the Good Samaritan Hospital. By the time he arrived, doctors had found a small blockage and put a stent in Maria's artery.

"They said it was very small. They said if they hadn't known I was having a heart attack, and I would have just gone in and they were looking for blockages, they would never have found the blockage. It was that small of a blockage," Maria explained.

"But it was enough to cause a massive heart attack," Neil added.

Neil said that day he "was an emotional wreck. It was tough."

Maria said she only recalls bits and pieces of her attack and recovery.

Maria was in the hospital about eight days, but by the time she returned to work in mid-October, the last class on hands-only CPR training was under way. Bank trainer/contact center manager Heather Via pushed for the training after Maria's heart attack.

Via said she received a call from a teller at the bank after Maria collapsed. By the time she arrived at the bank, the ambulance crew was trying to revive her.

"It was very scary," Via said. "We didn't know that she had had a heart attack. We thought she fainted."

It was the EMTs who told them Maria had a heart attack, she added.

Jonestown Bank & Trust Co. has instituted company-wide hands-on CPR training to ensure all employees have the basic skills to perform CPR during a cardiac emergency.

Jonestown Bank CEO Troy Peters said each year the bank supports the American Heart Association and the Heart Ball.

"The decision to support the AHA in a bigger way this year was the result of a combination of things, including our belief in the cause, the number of employees who have been directly or indirectly affected by heart attacks and/or strokes and, of course, the primary catalyst was Maria's situation that occurred while she was at work at the bank," Peters said.

After Maria's incident, he said, the bank partnered with First Aid and Safety Patrol to make hands-on CPR training available to all of its employees so that they could help a co-worker, client, family member or anyone else if the situation arose.

Peters knows the importance of performing CPR, having helped save someone's life eight years ago.

"I have been in this situation myself, and I know how important it is to have the skill and willingness to administer CPR," he said.

The bank had 48 employees complete the hands-on CPR training.

"We are proud of Maria and the rest of our employees, and that's why we made the investment," Peters said.

Via said she is glad the employees had the training.

"We can use it in so many ways," she said. "I'm a cheerleading coach at Northern Lebanon. If something happens to one of the girls, I know what to do now. I'm very grateful to the bank for the training. It has brought us closer together."

Neil said he, too, is pleased that the bank got the training for its employees.

"It makes it a little bit easier to know that now they have the knowledge — even if it's for a customer — to be able to start first aid," he said. "It means a lot to me."

Erin Velazquez, Lebanon Division director of the American Heart Association, said it is important for workers to have CPR training.

"Every day, 450 people will suffer from cardiac arrest, (and) only 8 percent will survive," Velazquez said. "Survival rates can double, even triple, if CPR is administered right away from a bystander. Currently, only 32 percent of individuals needing CPR receive it. Many times, these situations occur outside the home in public places. It's important for us to be trained, not only to come to our co-workers' aid but to a customer or bystander in any public setting."

Velazquez said Maria Umberger was chosen to be the Heart Ball speaker this year because her story is an opportunity to better educate people.

"If we can save one person's life by getting her story out there, and the benefits of administering CPR to those who need it, then it will have been worthwhile," she said.

Maria said she is grateful to her employer.

"They have been so understanding and supportive," she said. "Even when some days are tough and I struggle, they have my back and are supportive. I work with great people."

She's also grateful to the ambulance crew and the hospital as well as the American Heart Association.

"I am so grateful and feel so fortunate to be able to look forward to sharing my family's future life events," said Maria, who will turn 48 on March 28, the day before the Heart Ball. "If telling my story can move just one more person to learn the basics of CPR, my message will have been worthwhile."

The Lebanon Heart Ball, locally sponsored by Good Samaritan Health System, is an annual black-tie event to raise funds for the American Heart Association. The evening's theme is "A Night in the Orient" and includes dinner, dancing, a silent and live auction, and other activities.

For more information about tickets or sponsorship opportunities for the 2014 Lebanon Heart Ball, visit lebanonheartball.heart.org or contact Erin Velazquez at erin.velazquez@heart.org or 717-813-9290.